Screen layout
The photoKam Radar window has four parts: the top bar at the very top, the sidebar on the left, the main screen in the middle (gallery · map · volumes · jobs · settings), and the status bar at the very bottom. The full view and the editor open as separate screens that cover everything below the top bar; when you close them, you return to exactly where you were in the gallery.
When to use it
- When you've just started the app and want to learn what is where.
- When you wonder what an icon button does (hover the mouse over it and a description appears after a moment).
- When you want to know what the dot color and text in the status bar at the bottom mean.
- When you want to change the photo-finding speed, or find out why it's resting right now.
- When you want to switch drives or folders on and off, or check errors that occurred while finding photos.
Where to find it
This page covers the whole window.
| No. | Area | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ① | Top bar | Full width at the very top | Logo · license badge · density · theme · tour · shortcuts · about · window buttons |
| ② | Left sidebar | Down the left side | Switches screens: gallery · map / volumes · jobs · settings |
| ③ | Toolbar | Above the gallery | Type · location · pair grouping · folders · search · quick filters · view mode · photo count · refresh |
| ④ | Photo list | Center | Grid · tiles · list |
| ⑤ | Details | Right (when you click a photo) | Rating · tags · shooting information of the selected photo |
| ⑥ | Status bar | Full width at the very bottom | Photo-finding status · speed · app version |
Screens and buttons
① Top bar
| Name | Appearance | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Logo | App icon · "photoKam Radar" · version number | Display only |
| License badge | Free version (orange badge) / Licensed (muted badge) | Click it to open the License window (Free version · Full version · License registration) |
| Density | Comfortable · Compact | Makes rows and buttons taller / shorter. Compact fits more on one screen |
| Theme | Moon (🌙) + Dark / sun (☀) + Light | Each click switches between dark ↔ light (Switch theme). The full view, the editor and even the histogram all switch together |
| Compass | Feature tour | Starts the 10-step screen tour (Installation and first launch) |
| Keyboard | Shortcuts (?) | Opens the shortcut table (same as ?) |
| Info (i) | About | The About window |
| 5 window buttons | 2 half-screen buttons · Minimize · Maximize/Restore · Close | See the table below |
Window buttons (far right)
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fill left half · click again to restore | The window fills the left half of the screen. On a monitor in portrait orientation, this becomes Fill top half |
| Fill right half · click again to restore | The window fills the right half of the screen. On a portrait monitor, this becomes Fill bottom half |
| Minimize | Minimizes to the taskbar |
| Maximize / Restore | Switches between full screen ↔ original size. On Windows 11, hovering over this button shows the snap layout menu |
| Close | Closes the window (the background indexer keeps running) |
- Drag an empty part of the top bar to move the window, and double-click it to switch between maximized ↔ original size.
- When the full view, the editor or the compare screen is open, the middle of the top bar shows where you are (for example Viewer › Edit), a folder chip and the file name, and gallery buttons such as density · theme · tour are hidden.
Click the folder chip for the Open folder · Copy folder path · Copy file path menu.
② Left sidebar
| Position | Name (shown on hover) | Screen |
|---|---|---|
| Top | Gallery | List of photos · videos (Viewing and selecting photos) |
| Top | Map | Shows photos with location data on a map (Jump to date · Map) |
| Bottom | Volumes | Turn drives (or folders) on and off, check progress — see "Volumes screen" below |
| Bottom | Jobs | Errors that occurred while finding photos, and maintenance tasks — see "Jobs screen" below |
| Bottom | Settings | Language · theme · photo finding · updates and more (Settings) |
The selected item turns the accent color and a short vertical line appears to its left. Screens you've opened are only hidden, not closed, so your scroll position and selected photos stay as they were even after you visit another screen.
③ Toolbar (gallery)
From the left: type (All · Photos · JPG · RAW · Videos), Location, Group pairs (+ the JPG/RAW to show), Folders, Search, quick filters (camera · lens · folder · tag · extension · rating · flag · sort), and the 3 view mode buttons; at the far right are the photo count and Refresh. If the window is narrow, the toolbar wraps onto two or three rows. When you select photos, the right end changes to the selection bar (N selected · compare · rotate 90° · organize · Recycle Bin · clear selection). For details, see Viewing and selecting photos and Search and filters.
⑥ Status bar
On the left you'll see a dot and the task in progress, followed by the number of photos left and the processing speed. The app version number is at the far right.
| Dot | Text (example) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Accent color | Scanning folders… | Looking for new folders or changed files |
| Accent color | Reading photo information… | Reading the shooting date · camera · lens · location and so on |
| Accent color | Creating thumbnails… | Creating thumbnails to show in the grid |
| Accent color | Reason for resting (table below) | There's work to do, but it's resting for a while or going slowly |
| Gray | Idle | All work is done |
| Red | Indexer is off · Indexer not found + N left | Work remains but the background indexer isn't running → Settings → Background indexer → Restart |
Reasons for resting (the text shown as is in the status bar)
| Text | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Paused | You paused it |
| Paused · full-screen app running | While a full-screen program such as a game or video is running |
| Paused · on battery | While a laptop is running on battery (can be turned off in Settings) |
| Paused · low disk space | When the disk is almost full |
| Indexing slowly (app in use) | Goes slowly while you use this app so it doesn't get in your way |
| Indexing quickly (you're away) | Sped up because there's been no input for a while |
| Paused briefly (video playing) | While you watch a video in this app |
| Checking drives | Rechecking the connected drives |
Choosing a speed — Click the status text next to the dot (· Balanced ▾) and the Indexing speed menu appears just above the status bar.
| Speed | Shown as | Description (as on screen) |
|---|---|---|
| Eco | 30/min | Very slow so it never gets in your way — over days |
| Balanced (default) | 120/min | Half speed while you use the app, faster when you're away |
| Performance | 600/min | Full speed even while you use the app — expect fan noise and heat |
Two kinds of notifications
| Type | Location | When it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Pop-up notification | Bottom center of the window, disappears after about 3 seconds | When a task finishes successfully (for example "N copied — paste into a folder (Ctrl+V)", "Moved N to the Recycle Bin.") |
| Red notification bar | Just below the gallery toolbar | When a task fails. It disappears when you refresh the list |
Volumes screen (Volumes in the left sidebar)
If where to look is set to The whole computer, the screen title is Volumes; if it's A few folders, the title is Library and the contents differ.
| Item | The whole computer (drives) | A few folders (folders) |
|---|---|---|
| Description at the top | "Connected drives are detected automatically. Turn on the ones to scan." | "Only registered root folders are scanned. Your whole disk is never traversed." |
| Number at the top | Total count of Photos & videos | Folders (number of registered folders) |
| Button at the top | Rescan drives | + Add folder |
| Second line of a card | Path · type (Internal · Removable · Network · Optical · Cloud · RAM disk) · size (GB) | Path |
| Card status text | Scanning now · N folders left · Done · Off · Disconnected — will resume when reconnected | — |
| Card numbers | Photos & videos · Progress (%, or Waiting before it starts) | Photos · Last scan (time) / Scanning… / Not scanned · Missing N if photos have disappeared |
| Switch | Scan — when off, that drive isn't scanned and its photos leave the list | Enabled |
| Buttons | Re-index (checks this drive again from the start) | Scan · Remove (removes it from the list after confirmation — the ratings · tags of photos in that folder are also deleted; the files stay as they are) |
Dot color on the left of a card: gray = off, orange = disconnected, green = scan complete, accent color = scanning. You manage drives by switching them on and off. Cloud drives and network drives are off at first.
Jobs screen (Jobs in the left sidebar)
The screen title is Jobs, and the description says "Indexing errors. A failure never stops the rest of the scan."
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| errors count | Number of recorded errors |
| Delete selected (n) | Deletes only the error records checked in the table (doesn't delete files) |
| Delete all | Deletes all error records (after confirmation) |
| Retry failed items only | Tries only the failed files again |
| Fill in RAW location data | Rereads the location of RAW photos with an empty location (GPS) from the files and fills it in. Use it when RAW photos don't appear on the map |
| Recompute RAW+JPG pairs | Finds RAW and JPG files with the same file name in the same folder again and pairs them |
| Scan everything now | Finishes now, all the way, the work that was being processed slowly (doesn't start over from scratch) |
The table columns are Path · Stage · Cause · Message · Retries · Folder (opens the folder containing the file). If there are no errors, "No indexing errors" is shown.
About window (info button in the top bar)
It has the version number, a one-line description, feature badges, Made by · Contact · Copyright, a note on the terms of use (anyone can use every feature for free, and the only difference between the free and full versions is the watermark on exported photos and slideshows), 📖 User guide (the short version included with the app), Product page (opens this website, photokam.exapeaksoft.com) and Open-source notices. Close it by clicking outside the window, with ✕, or with Esc.
Shortcut table (?)
Shows shortcuts and what they do in three groups: Gallery · Full view · General. Press ? or Esc, or click outside the window, to close it. For the complete list, see All keyboard shortcuts.
Step by step
Changing the photo-finding speed
- Click the status text
Click the status text at the bottom left (for example Creating thumbnails…
· Balanced ▾). - Choose a speed
In the Indexing speed menu, click one of Eco · Balanced · Performance. The selected item gets an accent-colored border, and the speed changes within a few seconds.
- Close
Click outside the menu or press Esc.
Snapping the window to half the screen
- Click a half-screen button on the right of the top bar (the icon with half of a rectangle filled in).
- To restore it, click the same button again.
Excluding a specific drive (whole computer mode)
- Open Volumes in the left sidebar.
- Turn off the Scan switch on the card of the drive you want to exclude. The card dims and its status changes to Off.
- Go back to the gallery and click Refresh; the photos on that drive leave the list.
Adding a folder (a few folders mode)
- Open Volumes (the Library screen) in the left sidebar.
- Click + Add folder and choose a folder. A notification appears: "Folder added — the background indexer will scan it shortly."
- When the card's status changes from Scanning… to a time, the scan is finished.
Result
The speed you choose in the status bar menu is saved and stays the same the next time you run the app. The density and theme settings in the top bar are also saved immediately.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ? | Open · close the shortcut table (typed as a character if you're typing in an input box) |
| F1 | Open the user guide included with the app (short version) in your browser |
| Ctrl+, | Open the Settings screen |
| Esc | Close the open window (About · shortcuts · license · map and so on) |
| Ctrl+1 · Ctrl+2 · Ctrl+3 | Gallery view mode: grid · tiles · list |
| F5 | Refresh the gallery list |
In the macOS version, use ⌘ (Command) instead of Ctrl (for example, Ctrl+, → ⌘+,).
Good to know
To see a button's name, hover the mouse over it for a moment. In most cases, the name and the shortcut are shown together.
If you'd rather use the standard Windows title bar instead of the app's own title bar, turn on Settings → Classic title bar (this setting is there in case something goes wrong).
Gallery shortcuts (rating · flag · Recycle Bin and so on) work only while the gallery is visible.
Photo finding continues even after you close the window. To stop it completely, click Settings → Background indexer → Stop.
While the full view or the editor is open, the density · theme buttons in the top bar are hidden. They reappear when you close it.
The minimum window size is 940 wide by 600 high. If you make the window narrow, the toolbar wraps onto several rows.
Frequently asked questions
There's a red dot in the status bar.
It means work remains but the background indexer isn't running. Click Restart under Settings → Background indexer.
The status bar keeps showing "Paused · on battery".
It continues when you plug in your laptop. To keep going on battery too, turn off Settings → Pause on battery.
How can I tell whether all my photos have been found?
If the status bar shows Idle and the drives on the Volumes screen show Done · 100%, everything has been found.
The Volumes screen is titled Library.
That's the screen's name in A few folders mode. It works the same way.
If I delete error records, are the photos deleted too?
No. Deleting on the Jobs screen removes only the error records. To retry those items, click Retry failed items only before deleting the records.